Hip Stability Exercises to prevent ITBS and Runner’s Knee

Every year, I receive a lot of questions about recovering from IT Band Syndrome and I understand why…it sucks!

There is the moment when you first think you can run through it because hey sometimes running is uncomfortable, then the final moment where you realize you’ve made a terrible mistake. While it can feel like recovery is never ending, I’m hear to tell you it’s entirely possible to 100% recover from IT Band Syndrome.

My initial injury knocked me out for months, then I spent years with off and on pain. As soon as I committed to strengthening my hips that cycle stopped!
Learn from my mistakes and get those hips strong with PRE-HAB before you ever need RE-HAB.

Nearly, every runner with knee, hip or IT Band issues receives news from the Physical Therapist that they need to strengthen their hips.

The image below shows how the hip misalignment due to weakness can cause problems all the way down your leg and results in IT Band Syndrome or runner’s knee.

• the leg rotates in creating pressure on the knee
• rotation pulls muscles tighter
• your gate changes placing new pressure on muscles and joints
• muscles are shortened, so they can’t function well

Our hips get out of alignment for all kinds of reasons, but the most common are going to be sitting all day, running with poor form and well not doing the strength work I’m talking about below!

How to Tell if Your Hips are Out of Alignment

Hip rotation is a common occurrence and many resolve it by going to the chiropractor, which I often recommend to athletes I coach.

However, this is just one part of the formula, to ensure that you don’t need to go back weekly for adjustments, it’s important to also perform exercises that strengthen the muscles around our pelvis and continue daily hip stretches.

Before heading in, do a quick check at home to see if you might need some fixing. Compare your left and right side:

• Is it harder to balance on one side?
• Is one side is weaker, more painful, tighter, or stiffer?
• If any of this is true, your pelvis may be rotated.

Another test is to lie on your back on the floor, bring your knees to your chest, and then slowly stretch them straight on the floor or against a wall. Ask a running buddy to see if one leg is longer than then the other {I can often tell this on my own with legs up the wall}.

They can do this by holding a broom stick or other rod across your feet, then across your hipbones while you are still laying face up and then face down. Most often, the right hipbone appears to be higher than the left one, if the pelvis is rotated.
Image source

Hip Exercises for Better Alignment

After being assessed or seen by a chiropractor, here are a few at home exercises to help continue creating hip strength to prevent pelvic rotation. These should be done in conjunction with the hip stretches!!

As always I am not a doctor and you should consult one before starting any routine, but have found these to be helpful myself.

Isometric Holds
Lie on your back with both legs on the ground, bend your right leg and pull in to your chest.
Place hands around your thigh, creating light resistance, push away with your leg for 10 seconds.
Place your hands in front of your knee, creating light resistance, and push your leg towards your chest for 10 seconds.

90/90 Hip Rotation
Lie on the ground with knees bent at 90 degrees and a block or pillow in-between.
Begin to drop your knees to the right, keeping both shoulders on the ground. If your shoulder comes up you have gone too far.
Return to center and rotate to the left.

Leg rotation Leg Lifts
There are two exercises here which can be used to continue working on hip strength
Lay on your stomach with arms down by your side
Bend right knee to 90 degrees
Slowly rotate the lower portion of the leg out to the left, keeping the leg on the ground
Return to center and rotate right

The second exercise is done laying on your side.
Lift the top leg and simultaneously rotate the knee towards the ceiling
As you lower rotate the knee down (keeping the leg fully straight)

Scorpion Stretch
Lay on your stomach with arms stretched out to form a T.
Begin to left your left leg in the air and rotate it across the mid-line of your body, touching the ground on the right side of your body.
Come back to resting and repeat on the opposite side
— This is also wonderful for the low back, but go slow to start.

If you need a visual of the exercises, here is a quick video demonstration, as well as videos for the other recommended moves linked below.

What Else Will Help Resolve ITB?

Hip rotation is not the only cause of IT Band or Knee pain, weak hips and glutes are equally to blame.

The key is to find a few moves, you will commit to doing consistently and make them one’s that you can really feel.

For example, on of my favorite moves shared here How I almost overnight resolved my knee pain works for me because the very first time I did it I could feel my glute activating in ways no other move had. Try out a few of the different moves in these posts to find stretches that feel good or moves that are HARD enough.

Hip Extension and Mobility for Runners
The lunge matrix used by many PT’s for IT Band recovery
Exercises for Runner’s Knee recovery
3 Dimensional Exercises for hip flexors {needed for those who sit all day}
Activate your glutes {often underactive in IT Band sufferers due to quad dominance}

What’s your favorite (least) way to strengthen hips?

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Checkout the Ultimate IT Band Solution >>